Tile.



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE."

TILE).

SPECIFICATION forrnngrpart of Letters Patent No. 707,125, dated August 19, 1902.

' I Application led February 4, 1902. Serial No. 92,542." (No model.)l

` To all whom/jt may concern:

vention.

Be it known that L'FEEDEEICK R. LAW- RENCE, a citizen of theUnited States, and a resident of Brooklyn, New York city, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improve.

ments in Tiles, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to`tiles for ceilings, floorings, and similar purposes, and has for its object to provide a tile which maybe firmly joined to the cement Vor other foundation-in which it is embedded and to tiles.

The invention consists in the novel construction of a tile and-the providing of certain recesses or sockets therein, as hereinaf- I l ter more particularly described.

` In the accompanying drawings, Figure l represents a plan view of the bottom or under side of a tile constructed according to my in- Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical section, Fig. 3 a side view, 'andfFig44' a plan view, of theunder side of three tiles, illustrating the correlation of lthe 'recesses when said tiles are laid Iin courses or series.

In carrying my-invention into effect I provide a tile a of the usual or any suitable material, shape, and size, and I form on the under side thereof,.around the margin or'edge, a series of recesses or sockets b b. These recesses are in plan view wider at their inner ends than at their outer ends, their-side walls inclining toward each other, as shown in Figs. l and 4. The bottoms or Iioors c of the re` y cesses b are not flat, (see Fig. 2,) but incline so that the recesses aredeeper at their outer ends than at their inner ends; butI prefer not to make them extend until the lioors meet the sideof the tile, but rather to terminate said oors'at a low vertical rearwall c. All the walls are preferably substantially smooth and perpendicular, or nearly so, to 'the side of the tile, there being no undercuts or grooves, though'there may be, if desired, a slight outward dare or inclination of the walls from the floor-of the recess to the top of the said walls.

In using tiles constructed according to my invention they are laid upon a bed ofcement or similar material with the recessed side down and'pressed firmly into said cement, which thereupon fills the recesses b and upon hardening holds the tile much more securely against both vertical and lateral movement the adjoining than if the lower side of the tile were smooth. The object and advantageof having the recesses of the shape described will be evident from Fig. 4l, which shows that when tiles are laidincontiguouscoursesorseries therecesses of adjacent tiles may easily be arranged so as to correspond and form a joint recess of such shape' that whenthe cementinto ywhich the tiles are pressed rises up into the same and hardens it forms a doublewedge, which securely dovetails the adjacent tiles together.

The objectof makingthe iioor of the recess inclined, so that the recess is deeper at its louter'end, isto prevent the imprisonment of air in the recess'when the tile is' forced into the cement. The object of making the walls substantially smooth' and perpendicular, or nearly so, to the surface of thetile-that is, not provided with either grooves or undercuts-is because a tile of this construction can be stamped or pressed out by a suitable die at one operation, which would not be the case if grooves or undercuts vwere a part of the construction;` but a slight outward are of the walls is advantageous, because it facili- `tates the lifting or drawingout'of the die after the tile has been stamped. vUndercuts or grooves though difficult to form, are still possible and are advantageous, because they afford a better means of attachment to the cement, and I do -not-A. limit myself to tiles either with or without undercuts or grooves, though, as stated above, smooth and vertical or nearly Verticalwalls are the most practicable.V .Y

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, isas follows; y

"A tilep'rovided with recesses in its under surface and around the margins thereof, the floors or 'bottoms of said recesses being inclined or sloping so that the recesses are deeper at their outer ends than at their inner ends,V and the side walls of ysaid recesses being inclined together so that the reces/ses are wider at their inner ends than at their outer ends.

Signed at Manhattan, New York city, in the county of New York and State of 'New York, this 29th day of January, A. D. 1902..

y FREDERICK R. LAWRENCE.

Witnesses: i

EDMOND CONGAE BROWN, PETER A. Ross. y

IOO 

